The software engineers apply the standard computer engineering techniques and strategies to design, develop, test, and evaluate software programs and systems that permit the computers to perform their many functions. The software engineers plan, design, and develop many types of software programs such as the operating systems, computer applications, and websites. The software engineering is a broad field which includes the software programmers and the developers. As a programmer, a software engineer analyses a human problem and write codes which instruct the computer how to perform a desired function. The software engineers must possess strong programming abilities, however, it also entails additional engineering abilities such as developing algorithms and analyzing or solving programming issues other than writing codes.Typically, the first step for the software program engineers in developing an application or improving a program structure is to analyze the needs of the user. Then they design, construct, test, and run these computer applications software or systems to meet these needs. A good example is the Obamacare marketplace website. After the congress passed the healthcare bill, there was the need for a more convenient mean to help people purchase the health insurance. The software engineers were brought in to write HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) codes. These are the building blocks of any web page, and they provide tags to create web components to display in a browser such as the images, text, forms, and videos. Another language that was used is CSS (Cascading Style Sheets  Specification) which creates the look and feel of a webpage. It describes the presentation of an HTML document as to how an HTML element should render in a browser. The JavaScript’s were also used. The JavaScript is a scripting language used in a webpage that describes its behavior such as submitting information to a backend server when a client clicks the submit button.
Another good example of a software application is the creation of Tesla’s self-driving cars. In recent years, Tesla’s software engineers have improved on their C, C++ and Assemble codes which interact and correlate between cameras, radars and sensors, as well as collect data on the road to perform the autopilot mode.
The software engineering end products may appear glamorous at times but the job requires extreme attention to details and precision. For this reason, the software engineers are bound to make mistakes. The extents of the mistakes can be quite devastating and costly as evident by Nissan’s airbag software malfunction. Nearly a million Nissan cars have been recalled over the past two years due to a software glitch in some cars. The recalls occurred because the sensor would sometimes fail to recognize whether an adult is sitting in the passenger seat, resulting in the airbags not being deployed in the event of accidents
Pursuing a career as a software engineer involves four years of college and one may also need to pursue certifications, depending upon one’s career choice. A software programmer may need JavaScript, HTML, and C++ certifications among others. The Software engineers earn an average salary of $100,690 per year. A career in software engineering is quite rewarding not only due to the high pay but also because it prepares you well for the future. This is, especially, true because the technology continues to drive our modern progress and will continue to do so in the near future. The software engineers provide easy solutions to complex problems that were considered impossible in the past. The examples include instant communication with friends who may be overseas, thanks to social media technologies such as the Facebook.